title: Increased ornithine decarboxylase activity and protein level in the cortex following traumatic brain injury in rats.
abstract: There is increasing evidence that the elevated levels of polyamines play an important role in the secondary injury following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is the rate-limiting enzyme of polyamine biosynthesis. Presently, we measured the ODC protein levels by Western blot analysis in the cerebral cortex of rats sacrificed at 2 h, 6 h, 24 h, 72 h and 168 h after controlled cortical impact injury. TBI resulted in a significant increase in ODC protein levels (2.5 to 5.5 fold, P<0.05) and enzyme activity (13 to 21 fold, p<0.01) between 2 and 6 h after the injury. ODC protein levels and enzyme activity returned to normal, control levels by 72 h after the injury. Increased ODC protein and enzyme activity could contribute to vasogenic edema and the pathogenesis of neuronal dysfunction after TBI by stimulating the formation of polyamines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Veterans Administration Hospital, Madison, WI 53792, USA.
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Raghavendra Rao
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Başkaya
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muralikrishna Rao
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dempsey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000378:metabolism*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase